A queue management system (QMS) consists of two major parts, a hardware section, and a software section. Both the queue management system software and hardware have different components and accessories. These components, accessories, and modules are used to build certain features in the system. These days in Dubai and all around the UAE the more modernized and customized queue management systems are being used. The primary objectives of the queuing solution are to manage the customer flow, improve customer experience and increase productivity. There are so many different types of queue management systems available in Dubai, UAE which could be very confusing for the business. This begs the question of which queue management system will suit you or how to distinguish between a good or bad or an average quality system? There are certain markers or features that a good queue management system software should have in general, if all those features are there then you can easily decide if it will suit you or not.
You must be thinking that there is hardware involved too so why we are only talking about the software, the only reason is that the hardware itself is nothing without the software, if the software is offering a certain feature then by default the hardware will come along. That is why we are focusing only on the software features. There are certain queue management systems that are purpose-built or dedicated to a certain industry or application only, even for those types of queuing solutions the queue management system software must have certain traits which will determine the effectiveness and productivity of the queuing solution.
Here are 7 features of queue management software that you should look for when acquiring a new queue management system:
1. Virtual Queuing
A virtual queue management system is the modern day’s need. Since the year 2020 has completely transformed the customer experience and customer expectations too, the year 2021 is the year of more digitalized and personalized customer journey and customer experience. The social distancing and health and safety of the visitors and the staff is the top priority for any business these days. The virtual queuing module will help businesses to easily maintain and manage the active queues as per their capacity to ensure social distancing. Virtual queuing is not just for implementing social distancing but it is also offering a great digital experience.
The customers and visitors are allowed to sign-up even before arriving at the branch. This requires more efficient software that is linked with various other systems and tools to allow the customers to sign-up through different channels such as smartphone applications, SMS, calls, QR codes, etc. The virtual queue management system not only facilitates the customers and visitors but also reduces or literally eliminates the wait time. The customers can arrive at the very exact time of their turn and get the service done. That is a huge leap in terms of customer experience, from waiting for hours to waiting for a few minutes or even no wait can make your customers extremely happy. Various different market researches and studies showed that the average acceptable waiting time for an ordinary customer or visitors is thirteen minutes, any time later than that could harm the customer experience.
2. Separate Dashboards
Any good queue management system should have separate user dashboards with dedicated interfaces to increase efficiency. This feature also makes the administration easier and more managed. There are usually three main interfaces or dashboards in a queue management system:
- Customer Interface
- Agent Interface
- Admin Interface
The customer interface is always separate from the other two. In Dubai and all around the UAE the traditional queue management systems usually provide an interactive kiosk-based customer interface. The customers and visitors can sign-up for the queue and get a ticket or token issued bearing their queue number and some other information.
The agent dashboard is usually a web-based dashboard. This dashboard provides the basic controlling and monitoring of the current queues and their statuses along with the facility of customer calling and managing the customer flow. Sometimes the admin dashboard is also used for the same purpose, but mostly the agent or server dashboard is kept separate.
The admin interface or administrative console is also a web-based control panel. This not only provides administrative control over the entire branch or overall connected branches but also provides data analysis and reporting features too. The management can add multiple levels of administrative roles or job roles with respective authority and data access policies to establish an administrative hierarchy.
3. Remote Management and Real-time Monitoring
Whether you are implementing the queue management system in a single branch or office or you don’t even have another branch at all, remote management and real-time monitoring are must-have features for any good queue management system. The remote management will let the managers and the higher management manage the queuing system and handling some other system administrative tasks while they are not sitting inside the branch or office. The real-time monitoring is also providing real-time system updates and live information about the ongoing customer flow and other queuing data.
However, if your business has multiple branches and is located in multiple cities the remote management and real-time monitoring becomes very handy. For example, your head office is located in Dubai, and you are a manager who is responsible for the customer experience and customer flow. You must need a system to get the updates and monitoring features so you don’t have to call or contact the branch manager to get the required info regarding the customer flow and customer experience.
The remote monitoring and real-time updates are achieved by linking all the branches and locations to the main location or head office. The queue management software has a server-side application that can be hosted locally or online. The administrative dashboard and interface allow the higher management to get access to the data and information of any branch, and on top of that, all the queuing information and statistical data have been updated regularly. This makes a queue management system a great tool to monitor and control the customer journey and customer experience at all branches without even going there or following the long manual workflow and internal processes.
4. Customer Feedback System
As the primary objective of a queue management system is to improve the customer journey and customer experience. Despite investing a lot and making a lot of efforts how would a business know if their efforts are in the right direction or not? The simplest answer is to ask directly to the customers and the best way to do it is via a customer feedback system or via a customer happiness scale. The customer happiness scale or customer feedback system is used to collecting customer feedback and is usually placed at the very last step of the service delivery so when the customer got everything done, they should be asked to share their opinions.
A good modern-day queue management system must have an in-built customer feedback system or a customer feedback module. In some cases, the external customer feedback systems are also linked to the queue management systems as well. The objective here is to understand the customer’s experience. As a queue management system is designed to manage the customer experience throughout the entire customer journey, so it is important to understand how your customers feel about it.
Normally touch screens or tablet stands are used and placed at the counters or at the exits depending upon the infrastructure of the premises. The customer feedback is collected in the form of a happiness meter or scale or a small customer survey. The important thing here to understand is to keep the feedback process simpler and easier. Traditionally a happiness meter suffices, but in certain cases, a short customer survey is also helpful. There should be only two to three questions in the survey and maybe some contact details too. Anything more than that and the customer will not attempt it, or even if some of them do attempt the survey, it will impact the wait time as the next customer can’t be called until the first person is completely done with the counter.
5. Reports, KPIs, and Business Intelligence Gathering
Each and every industry has some standards and norms. Similarly, different regions have different business practices and different standards as well. Likewise in Dubai and all across the UAE all of the leading queue management system providers also offer a reporting module along with their queue management system software. However, there are certain things that you must consider before implementing the queue management system, for example, a comprehensive reporting module, an in-built data analytical engine, KPIs or key performance indicators, and business intelligence gathering.
The KPIs or key performance indicators are for the employees and the agents/server. These indicators capture various stats and performance markers. For example, how long is an employee taking to serve a customer? Which service is taking the longest time and so on? Which employee is handling most customers in a day? Which employee is getting the most positive or negative feedback? And a lot more. These indicators will help management to understand and monitor the performance of the individual employees as well as of the teams and branches as well.
However, business intelligence is gathered through various touchpoints, statistical data, performance indicators, and customer feedback. The queue management system can also help businesses in understanding the customer journey and various other factors that are very helpful for making decisions and taking steps to improve the customer journey and customer experience. Such data and information are crucial for strategy making and planning for the future. The business can utilize the data to understand the expectations and needs of their customers to make adjustments to further improve customer experience and customer journey.
6. Flexibility to Integrate via APIs
Any modern queue management system whether it is a general-purpose or a dedicated solution for a certain application/industry must have certain capabilities to integrate into the main information center or IT infrastructure of the organization. As we have mentioned a few things above such as virtual queuing, smartphone applications, online appointment booking, etc. All such features can be provided by a queue management system acting as a standalone solution or synchronizing and integrating with the other enterprise solutions & systems.
Such integration is achieved via secure web services or also known as APIs. System integration is a very important feature of a queue management system. It allows the queuing system to communicate with other databases and business tools to further improve the customer journey and customer experience. Integration is also very important to boost system efficiency and productivity.
The system integration via APIs not only allows the queue management system to get access to certain data but also allows the system to feed in data to other systems for other purposes as well. For example, customer feedback can be synched with the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. The KPIs indicators can feed the overall enterprise performance management system for certain inputs. System integration opens up the ways for innovation and creativity and provides businesses with more flexibility, control, and better efficiency.
7. Future Scalability, Upgrades, and Maintenance
The capability to scale and upgrade to meet the future’s requirements is something that is mandatory for any kind of business solution. Businesses are very skeptical of upgrades, future scalability, maintenance, and the expected cost for all such activities. As an IT solution is a long-term investment so the annual maintenance, future upgrades, and scalability are always a big concern for businesses. However, in the case of Queue Management Systems, these things are not as that complicated. The future scalability of the queue management systems is relatively easier. For example, if you have a queue management system installed in 3 branches and want to expand it to another two, it can be done by simply installing more basic devices and doesn’t require any core change or upgrade. Mostly the queue management system software is already built to support expansion.
Keeping in mind the rapid changes in the market trends and customer behavior in Dubai, UAE the capabilities of future upgrades are extremely important. A modern-day queue management system should be able to offer very cost-effective future upgrades and modifications to meet the ever-growing demands. The upgrades and modifications to the queue management system software can only be achieved if the system is designed to be friendly with such changes, else it would be difficult, costly, and problematic.
Another important aspect of the queue management system and its software is the regular maintenance and its cost. The queue management systems overall and their software are constructed on widely available platforms and technologies. The queuing systems are designed to be operated 24/7 and hardly require any reboot or maintenance for several years. So, the maintenance cost of the queue management system software and other components is very easy, simple, and cheaper comparing to any other IT solution.
Conclusion
As Dubai and all around the UAE businesses these days are actively seeking solutions to improve their customer journey by effectively managing the customer experience and employees’ productivity. A queue management system is the only tool that can help businesses effectively manage and improve the customer experience, customer journey, and service delivery methods. Most of the businesses have already implemented a digital queuing solution and are currently seeking to replace it or upgrade it, while others are eagerly looking to catch up by implementing a brand new queue management system. As the year 2020 has completely transformed the market trends and customer behavior the year 2021 is the year of adopting the new standards. That is the reason many businesses who are seeking to boost their productivity and profitability are planning for a queue management system to meet the needs of their customers.
There are so many queue management system suppliers operating in Dubai, UAE and there are so many different queue management systems available too. The difficulty is how to choose an appropriate queuing solution that could help you to achieve your objectives and goals. The purpose of this blog was to let our readers a better understanding of the queue management system software and we have listed 7 features of queue management software which will help our audience to easily judge a queue management solution. The most important thing to consider is that if the queue management system software is capable enough to provide you features and functionalities that will help you achieve the highest efficiency in terms of customer happiness and employee performance.
Another important thing to consider is the capability to scale for future needs, upgrades, and easy maintenance. The cost is always a big concern of the businesses so the upgrade, expansion, and maintenance should be very cost-effective and less time-consuming. RSI Concepts is one of the leading queue management system providers in Dubai, UAE we serving our customers for more than a decade with a very high success rate. We are here to help you find a great queuing solution for you that will not only help you build up a positive brand reputation but will provide you a great competitive edge too. Feel free to reach us out through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
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